FA vs QQQ: Correlation
First Advantage Corporation (FA) and Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) show a moderate relationship: their 3-year correlation of weekly returns is 0.34.
Data as of 2026-08-27 · refreshed every trading day · weekly returns · methodology
How correlated are FA and QQQ?
On 3 years of weekly data the FA/QQQ correlation comes out at 0.34, moderate. Little has changed lately, as the 1-year reading of 0.25 lands near the 3-year figure. The 5-year figure is 0.45, and annualized covariance runs at 308.7 %².
Out of 16 assets tracked against FA, QQQ lands near the bottom at #13. Twelve-month performance is nearly a tie, at +27.0% for FA and +26.3% for QQQ. Risk is not evenly split, since FA carries 2.3 times the volatility of the other side.
How is this computed?
Pearson correlation on weekly returns: ρ(A,B) = cov(rA, rB) / (σA · σB), over windows of 52, 156 and 260 weeks. Covariance is annualized (×52) and expressed in %². Full definitions on the methodology page.
FA vs QQQ: side by side
| FA (First Advantage Corporation) | QQQ (Invesco QQQ Trust) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1-year return | +27.0% | +26.3% |
| 5-year return | +6.1% | +95.4% |
| Volatility (ann.) | 45.8% | 19.6% |
| Beta vs S&P 500 | 1.18 | 1.28 |
| Max drawdown (3Y) | -55.9% | -22.8% |
| Market cap | $3.6B | – |
| P/E (trailing) | 139.5 | – |
| Dividend yield | 0.00% | 0.44% |
| Expense ratio | – | 0.18% |
| Assets under management | – | $452.8B |
| Sector / category | US Listed | ETF · US Growth & Tech |
QQQ is a Large Growth fund from Invesco: $452.8B under management, 104 holdings, a 0.18% expense ratio, a 0.44% trailing dividend yield.
Year-by-year returns
| Year | FA | QQQ |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | -31.7% | -32.6% |
| 2023 | +41.5% | +54.9% |
| 2024 | +13.0% | +25.6% |
| 2025 | -22.4% | +20.8% |
| 2026 | +44.0% | +17.7% |
Calendar-year price returns; the current year is year-to-date as of the data date above.
Are FA and QQQ good diversifiers for each other?
Reasonably. At 0.34, FA and QQQ keep a meaningful degree of independence, and combining them has historically reduced portfolio volatility.
FAQ
What is the correlation between FA and QQQ?
The FA/QQQ correlation stands at 0.34 on a 3-year window (1 year: 0.25, 5 years: 0.45), computed from weekly returns as of 2026-08-27.
Is QQQ a good diversifier for FA?
Reasonably. At 0.34, FA and QQQ keep a meaningful degree of independence, and combining them has historically reduced portfolio volatility.
What does a correlation of 0.34 mean?
On the −1 to +1 scale, 0.34 describes how much the two returns move together: +1 is lockstep, 0 is independence, negative values mean opposite directions. It says nothing about which performed better.
Use this data
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Related comparisons
Hubs: FA correlations · QQQ correlations